It has been announced that actress Sakura Kiryu will be appearing in the drama series W-30 "Strobe Edge Season 2." She will play Sugimoto Mao, a key character who will have a major impact on the story of Season 2.
The original work is the manga of the same name by Io Sakisaka, which has a total of 10 volumes and has sold over 8 million copies (including digital versions). Although it has been made into a movie, this is the first time it has been made into a TV series, starring actress Riko Fukumoto and Kyohei Takahashi of the popular group " Naniwa Danshi ." In order to fully depict the charm of the original story, it will be divided into two parts, Season 1 and Season 2.
Kinoshita Ninako (Fukumoto), an honest and gentle high school student, lives her days without yet knowing the feeling of love. One day, on the train home, she meets classmate Ichinose Ren (Takahashi), and is drawn to Ren's hidden kindness. Ninako feels a pain, as if something has stabbed her in the chest, but her feelings for Ren begin to grow stronger with each passing day. Despite asking her best friend Uehara Sayuri (Kosaka Nao of Hinatazaka46) for love advice and receiving feelings from classmate Korenaga Daiki ( Motoki Nakazawa), Ninako realizes that her feelings for Ren are "love" and makes up her mind to tell him how she feels...
Yoshiyanagi won the grand prize at the 41st Horipro Talent Scout Caravan "PURE GIRL 2016" at the age of 12, making her the youngest winner ever. She made her acting debut as the 10th Peter Pan in the musical "Peter Pan," and is a talented young actress who has continued to appear in popular productions such as the NHK morning drama "Boogie Woogie" in late 2023 and the Sunday Theatre drama "Mikami Sensei" in January of this year. This will be her first appearance in a WOWOW drama in about two years, since the Tokai TV x WOWOW co-production drama series "Gifted" (2023).
Yoshiyanagi's character, Mao, is a junior high school student of Ren and Ando (Koki Yamashita). Now a first-year high school student, Mao enrolls at the same high school that Ninako and her friends attend. Yoshiyanagi plays an important character who holds the key to the story of Season 2 and greatly shakes up the relationship between Ninako, Ren, and Ando. When Yoshiyanagi was confirmed to appear in this role, he commented, "I was excited to think about how I could carefully portray Mao's awkwardness and the feelings she hides deep in her heart. I tried to play her with care so that viewers could feel the delicate warmth of this story through her." With Mao's arrival, the ensemble drama of high school youth centered around Ninako and Ren becomes even more heartbreaking and turbulent.
Additionally, TVer will be streaming episodes of "Strobe Edge Season 1" after each episode has aired on WOWOW. Additionally, all episodes of the drama series W-30 "Ao Haru Ride Season 1/Season 2," produced by the same production team as "Strobe Edge," will be available for streaming for a limited time of three weeks from October 31st.
WOWOW On Demand will stream all six episodes of Season 1, from the first episode to the final episode, all at once. Additionally, from 10:15 PM on October 31, just before the first episode, LINE VOOM will host a "Premiere Live Stream to Commemorate the Broadcast and Streaming" with the cast. LINE VOOM will stream the first episode of "Strobe Edge Season 1" from 11 PM.
Additionally, four official merchandise items for the film will be sold on the online shopping site "WOWOW Department Store." These include a butterfly keychain that Ninako receives from Ren, a key item in the film, an earphone stand that can also be used to display photos, a lunch box decorated with motifs from the film, and a school bag charm based on the school bag worn by Ninako and her friends at the high school.
"Serial Drama W-30 'Strobe Edge Season 1'" will be broadcast and streamed on WOWOW Prime and WOWOW On Demand from 11:00 PM on October 31st. The first episode will be broadcast for free.
